The Black Donnellys

by: Average Joe 1 year, 9 months, 6 days, 43 minutes ago

Release Date:

2/26/07

Company:

NBC

Series:

The Black Donnellys

 

I remember a few months ago when the good folks at NBC sent out some DVD screeners for their new shows set to premiere in the Fall. In the set I received were shows like Heroes, 30 Rock, and a show I’d never even heard anything about called The Black Donnellys. Months later we saw both Heroes and 30 Rock go on to be ratings sensations, but it left me asking the question "What happened to The Black Donnellys?"

A few days ago I received a new DVD screener for The Black Donnellys which contained the first 5 episodes. Remembering that I had enjoyed the pilot episode when I first saw it acouple of months ago, I popped the disc into my DVD player and sat down hoping the other 4 episodes would keep me as entertained as the pilot did.

The show is created by Paul Haggis and Bobby Morasco (Crash) and centers around four irish brothers named Tommy, Kevin, Jimmy, and Sean, that despite their different chosen paths in life hold one thing to be sacred: “Family above all.” Narrated by a small time wannabe gangster named Joey “Ice Cream,” the show follows the brothers and their sudden involvement in the World of organized crime.

Now, I’m a BIG fan of movies like Goodfellas, The Godfather, Casino, etc. The World of organized crime, and the mob is something that has always interested me, so naturally I figured I could find at least something enjoyable in this show.

Before I continue, let me just say that I’ve read the less than flattering reviews the show has received. The Los Angeles Times called it “rubbish,” The New York Times says the show will make you rethink Haggis’ success with Crash, and Entertainment Weekly says the show consists of writing you can spot coming a mile away. Pretty harsh reviews if you ask me, but oh well, I mean that’s what these people get paid to do right? Not every show can be a winner, and according to these fine sources NBC would have better luck if they aired a repeat of Heroes in place of The Black Donnellys. Ouch.

Personally, I enjoyed the show. Sure it’s not on the same level as The Sopranos, but it doesn’t really try to be either. The thing with creating shows like this that air on basic TV is that you run into the problem of not being able to portray your characters as dark and gritty as you’d like. I mean in The Sopranos they have complete freedom to say and do whatever they want because they’re on HBO, but with The Black Donnellys they have to rely on something more than just throwing around the “F word” since they’re on a “family network.” This is something I’ve always had a problem with. I mean would Goodfellas really be the masterpiece it is if the characters were limited to saying “gosh” and "gee whiz"? Probably not because it would take the sense of realism away. This is 2007 and people talk a certain away. They use certain “colorful” words to spice up their vocabulary. You may not like it, but it’s a fact of life. In fact, one of my reasons for not watching the initial season of FOX’s Prison Break was because I didn’t think they could present prison life in a believable way. Oh how wrong I was.

Stay with me, I’m not just trying to use this time to advocate my belief in freedom of speech, there’s actually a point to this.

The Black Donnellys is pretty much the same thing for me. I mean how do you present the life of people who are involved in organized crime when you’ve got some pretty strict rules laid down by network censors? You rely on clever writing that’s what you do. In the pilot episode we’re introduced to our main characters: Kevin’s the gambler, Jimmy’s the hothead, Sean’s the baby of the family, and Tommy is the one always bailing his brothers out of trouble. The show tries to convey the fact that each of the brother’s have taken a different path in life, but despite their differences there is nothing they wouldn’t do for eachother.

The first episode starts off a bit slow, and has a few points that made me roll my eyes, but by the end of the episode had me nodding my head in approval wanting to watch the next episode. In the later episodes we see just how close this family really is, and how any of the four brothers would literally throw their life away (namely Tommy) for the sake of the family. We get to know a bit more about each of the characters, and learn more about the foundations of each of them as individuals and as a unit, and to be honest with you, I found these characters to be pretty interesting.

The acting is great since the show doesn’t rely on big name actors. When you see Tommy, or Kevin, or Jimmy it’s not like you’re saying “hey that’s (insert big name actor here) playing a mobster,” these actors portray their respective characters in a very convincing way even down to that sometimes hard to understand New York accent that almost every mobster seems to have.

In addition to the acting, the pilot (which was directed by Haggis) is shot beautifully in a way that really conveys the grittiness, and overall dark tone of the show. A lot of the show is shot at night, and even when the characters are in lighted areas the colors are very muted. Maybe it’s because I’m a geek and I look for these things, but the look of the show is very “moody” which is exactly what I think they were aiming for.

Overall I found The Black Donnellys to be a pretty convincing look into the World of the Irish mob. As much as I love shows like The Sopranos, it does get a bit tiring when someone comes along with a “new” look at the mob and they’re basically recycling the same characters we’ve seen time and time again, and we’re reduced to watching the same old Italian stereotypes played out for a new audience. This show doesn’t rely on stereotypes, or recycling characters depicted in every mob movie you’ve ever seen, instead it offers a fresh approach to the World of organized crime, and introduces you to characters that could conceivably be your next door neighbor (if you live in New York that is).

Needless to say, I liked it. Sure the other bigger name critics have trashed the show and called it a complete waste of time, but honestly, who are you going to trust, someone who’s been doing this for so long they’ve become desensitized to it, or your Average Joe? Then again you could always tune in and form an opinion of your own.

The Black Donnellys premiers tonight (Monday 2/26) @ 10 p.m on NBC.